To build bus terminal, Port Authority may have to seize private property on West Side

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's plan to replace the aging and maligned bus terminal on Eighth Avenue and West 42nd Street will likely force the bistate agency to use eminent domain.

On March 11, the Port initiated the first phase of a design competition to solicit ideas for a new, larger terminal that could cost north of $10 billion and will accommodate tens of thousands of additional daily riders the agency anticipates will pour into the facility in the next 20 years.

Participants in the competition are expected to base their submissions on five broad concepts for the megaproject that were envisioned by the Port last year. The concepts consider ideas to rebuild and expand the existing bus terminal as well as raze it to make way for billions of dollars of private development and build a new terminal west of the current location.

Each plan differs in size and configuration and would require taking over private property on Ninth Avenue, between West 39th and West 41st streets. The rules of the design competition instruct participants to use Port Authority real estate "where possible, minimizing the acquisition of private real estate."

"It's shocking they would put out a design competition that is not restricted to the footprint [the Port already owns],” said Christine Berthet, who co-chairs Community Board 4's transportation committee. “We are very concerned and very opposed to the idea of eminent domain on Ninth Avenue.”

John Degnan, the Port Authority's New Jersey-appointed chairman, said the agency will try to forgo eminent domain, the controversial process through which government takes over private property to make way for projects that are considered important for the public.

"The Port will strive to have the smallest possible impact on adjacent properties that we don't already own," Degnan said. "I'm very hopeful that if eminent domain is necessary—and I'm not convinced it is—it will be insignificant."

Berthet said that by not excluding eminent domain at the outset, the Port will likely receive design submissions that require the seizure of property.

"The words 'minimize' and 'where possible' are infinitely permissive and means there will be some [need for eminent domain]," Berthet said. "The rules should have read 'utilizes only currently-owned Port Authority real estate,' "

Other large-scale developments in the city, like Pacific Park (formerly known as Atlantic Yards), have had to go through eminent domain. The process typically generates public opposition, prolongs the construction time frame, and, in the case of the bus terminal, will likely add hundreds of millions of dollars of costs to the project. The Port will have to spend that money to compensate owners in order to seize properties.

"You're talking about Manhattan real estate. It's very valuable and it's going to be serious money to take it through eminent domain,” said Micheal Rikon, an attorney with GoldsteinRikonRikon & Houghton, a law firm that specializes in condemnation cases. "People just don't like losing their property. If it's something that is challenged in court, it could add two years to the project."

The five concepts released by the Port that the design competition is expected to build upon would each involve knocking down private properties, including a dozen or so residential and retail building, along with a church, on the west side of Ninth Avenue between West 39th and West 40th streets. Other iterations would include razing the buildings on the same block-front on the east side of the avenue and possibly a collection of properties on the northwest corner of West 40th Street and Ninth Avenue.

"It's not about legal action; we plan to take political action," said Joe Restuccia, the executive director of the Clinton Housing Development Co., a landlord that owns an apartment building at 541 Ninth Ave., which has affordable housing and long-time retail tenants. The property could be seized as part of an eminent domain action by the Port.

"Our neighborhood was able to beat a football stadium," Restuccia said, referring to an ultimately unsuccessful Bloomberg-era plan to build a stadium for the Jets over the Hudson rail yards.

Plans to build a new bus terminal were accelerated last week when Degnan reached a deal with other Port Authority board commissioners to include the project in the agency's nearly $30 billion capital plan.

Scott Rechler, the agency's New York-appointed vice chairman, had previously sought to study options to build a smaller replacement terminal in Manhattan and find ways to connect bus riders to other modes of transit in New Jersey, such as ferry service and the PATH system, thereby reducing bus traffic into the city. It's unclear whether a smaller terminal would eliminate the need to use eminent domain.

Submissions for the first phase of the design competition are due April 12. The second phase will begin shortly after, and a winner is expected to be picked by early fall.

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